


Whatever Else Comes

by queen_scribbles



Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Not Epilogue Compliant, Post-Game(s), Tavi says fuck it and runs off with her bf
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-01-14
Packaged: 2019-10-10 04:11:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17418860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queen_scribbles/pseuds/queen_scribbles
Summary: After the events of Ukaizo, Tavi makes plans for what to do next





	Whatever Else Comes

**Author's Note:**

> For fill 73: Resolve. Spoilers for the end of Deadfire.

 

Dealing with the gods was exhausting. 

Tavi smiled to herself and pressed one hand to her chest, to the subtle but undeniable absence of Berath’s chime. At least this encounter with Eothas had ended better for her than the first one. The world on the other hand... her smile faded and she sighed, raking one hand through her hair. The world was going to need some help. And if history was any indication, like it or not(decidedly _not_ ), kith were going to look to her.

Tavi scowled at the floor as she sat on the edge of her bed. That was the fucking conundrum of the hour, wasn’t it? She was tired--so motherfucking tired--of people looking to her for solutions to their problems. But she wasn’t sure who, if anyone, could really be trusted to find the best answer to the mess they were in now.  Or, shit, even a _good_ answer.

The blankets rustled behind her as Aloth shifted in his sleep, and Tavi shot a longing glance at her freshly abandoned spot next to him. Yesterday had been every kind of exhausting imaginable, and she would like nothing more than to stay curled up asleep with him. They deserved it, if anyone did. But how was she supposed to sleep with the weight of the world on her shoulders, deposited there by a god tired of carrying it himself?

Maybe that was too harsh. Tavi sighed and flopped back on the bed, careful not to hit Aloth in the process. Eothas had been carrying the weight of _knowing,_ of guilt, real or imagined,for centuries, millennia. If she was preemptively tired after one fucking night, how much more exhausting must those long years have been, even for a god? Maybe she couldn’t blame him too much, even if all his ‘doing something’ had accomplished was shifting the responsibility to other people. She was one of the few who knew _everything_ regarding the world’s current state. And Eothas’ words still rattled in her head; _“Inaction carries its own moral responsibility.”_ Whether she approved or not of his shunting the weight to _her_ , it had happened, and all she could do was figure out how she planned to proceed.

_I know one things for sure,_ Tavi thought almost defiantly, rolling on her side to watch Aloth sleep. _It’s **gonna** involve him._ They’d done the _absence makes the heart grow fonder_ thing. True as it may have proven, she hadn’t enjoyed it in the slightest.

“It’s too early to be thinkin’ about this shit,” she muttered, rolling back to her back and staring at the ceiling of her cabin. It was still dark out, for fuck’s sake; she should at least _try_ to get more sleep.

Or, failing that, lay here and listen to Aloth breathe. Tavi wriggled over on the bed, until she was just close enough to feel the warmth of his presence next to her. It was a comfort having him here, one she didn’t intend to give up any time soon.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

In the end, she didn’t do either for long. Tavi had never been particularly good at doing nothing, so she only made it an hour before restless energy drove her out of bed. She dressed by what little light there was and headed up on deck.

“Anything that needs doing?” she asked Beodul, and spent the next couple hours helping her boatswain with various menial tasks. It was a good way to distract herself and be useful at the same time. If she tried to whittle right now, she’d probably lop off a finger or something.

Fortuitously enough, she was between tasks when the main hatch to below decks swung open and Aloth emerged.

He smiled when he caught sight of her--squinting slightly in the sun--and headed in her direction. It was very tempting to pretend she’d missed the flicker of hesitation in that smile, bordering on worry. That it didn’t set his words echoing in her head again. Something about not wanting to make promises he couldn’t keep, that his work was important.

“I wondered where you went,” Aloth said by way of greeting. “By rights, you should have been even more tired than the rest of us.”

“I was, well, am,” Tavi snorted, rubbing one hand down her face as she looked back toward Ukaizo. “Couldn’t fuckin’ sleep after... everything.”

“It was rather a lot,” he agreed, leaning against the rail next to her. He frowned slightly at the rope burn that snaked down her forearm and across her palm.  “Dare I ask what you were doing to accomplish this?”

“Oh, I was helpin’ Eliam tie down a sail an’ may have, uh, slipped.”

Aloth’s gaze flicked up to the _lowest_ point she could be referencing--still a dizzying distance above the deck--and then back to her, worry in his eyes.  “ _ **Tavi**_ -”

“I’m fine, city slicker,” she promised, flexing that hand. “I caught myself. But a sailor I’m not. Beodul made sure I stayed on the deck after that.”

“Good for Beodul,” he said dryly, reaching over to gently brush his fingers against her palm. “And why were you  helping Eliam tie down sails in the first place?”

“B’cause it was too fuckin’ early to dwell on the big questions like ‘ _where do we go?’_ or  _‘what do we do?’_  or _‘how do we fix this?’_ and that was the best distraction available.”

“Ah.” Aloth was quiet for a long moment, the two of them listening to the waves’ lapping as he chose what he wanted to to say. “I must admit some curiosity regarding that second one myself; what _do_ you plan to do now?”

She’d really been hoping to put off this conversation a little bit longer, think out and shore up her arguments a little more, but if he wanted to do this _now_ , that worked, too.  Tavi cleared her throat and met his eye. “Well, actually, that sorta depends on you.”

Aloth raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

“Are you still plannin’ to hunt down the Leaden Key? Y’know, with the Wheel destroyed an’ all, are they still worth the effort to stop?” She picked at a hangnail

“Well...” he sighed, lips pursed in thought. “Aside from the fact it will take a while for all of them to learn of what happened, I feel they will continue working to manipulate the world and keep their secrets.” He fiddled with one ring, spinning it with nervous fingers. “Secrets that, now more than ever, should be common knowledge so kith can make informed decisions about the best course for the world.” He exhaled a deep breath and gave her a regretful smile. “So I suppose I am.”

Tavi hopped off the crate where she’d been sitting and move to lean against the rail next to him. “Then I’m comin’ with you.”

A look flickered in Aloth’s eyes that said he’d at least partly expected as much.  “And Caed Nua?”

“If rebuilt, it’ll be in much better hands with Keya than it will be with me,” she answered with a wry smile. “She already gets to be in charge any time I visit Edér, she’s comfortable leading and a shit ton better at diplomacy than I ever was. The staff all listen to her-”

“And how many of them are still there?” Aloth pointed out as gently as he could. It still hit Tavi with all the force of running headlong into a stone wall.

“I... _**Shit.**_ ” She raked her hands through her hair. “ _Shit,_ I forgot _again_. Even having been unconscious for that part, you’d think I’d fuckin’ _remember_ eventually. Berath’s bony ass, they _are_ all gone. She would be startin’ from scratch, wouldn’t she?”

Aloth nodded but didn’t say anything, giving her a moment to process and squeezing her hand in silent support.

Tavi cleared her throat and met his eye with a grateful but determined smile. “At least she’ll get to hire new people she knows are alright workin’ for an orlan.”

He cocked his head and shot her a curious look. “You don’t have _any_ interest in returning?”

She snorted. “Shit, no. I’ll be too easy to find the next time someone wants me to save the world. And besides....” She smirked. “You know I have a wanderer’s soul. Bein’ tied in one place was like fuckin’ torture. I only fought for it so hard ‘cause it irritated the damn fuckin’ shit outta Gathbin, an’ I _love_ irritatin’ the damn fuckin’ shit outta bastards like him.”

Aloth laughed. “That does sound like you.”

Tavi flashed a cheesy grin and shrugged. “B’sides, the only part I have any kind of link to is the Steward, and she’s here on the _Defiant_. So gettin’ back on topic, if you’re still huntin’ down the Leaden Key, I’m comin’ with you, city slicker. I share your feelings on those copperfuckers an’ you can’t tell me some extra fuckin’ muscle would hurt.” She slipped her hand free of his and ran her thumb, feather light, along the scar on his forehead.

“I’m not saying that,” he said softly. “I just want to be sure that hunting the Leaden Key is really what you want.”

She snorted again. “What I want is to stay with you. All the rest is just frills. We’ve done the absence makes the heart fonder thing and I hated every damn day of it. So, yes, if it means bein’ with you, huntin’ the Leaden Key is what I want.” She hesitated, bit her lip. “Unless... you don’t want me to. I-If this is somethin’ you’d rather do alone-”

“No,” Aloth cut her off hastily, reaching to take both her hands in his, his thumbs brushing over scarred knuckles and calluses alike. “No, I think I’ve made it clear how disastrous my attempt at doing this alone went. I welcome your help. I just want to be sure... After all, this will very likely take the rest of our lives, perhaps even then some. I don’t want you to feel obligated or-”

Tavi smiled, rolled her eyes, and cut him off with a kiss. “Have you _**ever**_ known me to do anything I didn’t want to?” she murmured when she pulled back.

Aloth chuckled and looked down at their hands. “No.” He bit his lip. “But it never hurts to check.”

“True,” she laughed, stealing another kiss. He was so damn _distracting_ when he bit his lip like that, she wondered some times if he didn’t do it on purpose. “So let me be really fuckin’ clear. I want to come with you, Aloth.” She slipped one hand free to cup his jaw. “Havin’ adventures and rootin’ out bad guys sounds like a fan-fuckin’-tastic way to spend the rest of our lives.”

Aloth reached up with his now-free hand to brush her windblown bangs out of her eyes. “It won’t always be exciting, you know,” he cautioned. “Sometimes it will be researching, or watching and waiting for days or possibly weeks on end.”

“Fine, whatever.” She rubbed her thumb over his cheek. “As long as I’m with you, city slicker, I can handle exciting days and boring ones and whatever else comes. Whether from the Leaden Key or fallout from that”--a vague gesture toward Ukaizo with their joined hands--”or anything else. What?”

Aloth shook his head slightly and smiled before stealing a kiss of his own.  “Nothing. So, we’re settled, then? Hunting the Leaden Key together?”

Tavi matched the smile and squeezed his hand as they turned in unison to look out over the vast expanse of the ocean. “Together,” she confirmed.

She wouldn’t have it any other way.


End file.
